Halloween Part II - We started celebrating Halloween last week and this week, we'll keep the theme going with fun activities based around ghosts, fun witches, pumpkins and much more! Enjoy and tell your friends if you like us.

Welcome back to our Halloween celebration. We have some fun activities that aren't scary but can give your toddler a positive experience for the holiday. We hope you have great weather this week for Halloween activities like visiting the pumpkin patch and trick or treating.

Letter of the Week: J - for Jack O' Lantern - point out things that start with "J" - juice, jump, jog, jambo. Show your toddler a picture of both a capital J and a lower case j. Draw a J on paper, or use your child's finger to draw it in the sandbox or dirt. Use bath tub or refrigerator letters to show him/her this letter as well. I've been showing my toddler letters in the bathtub - while he isn't identify them correctly, he does make "sounds" when he sees them because he knows that's what I do. You can even use flashcards a little at a time. We recently saw this link on Twitter about how to teach your toddler the alphabet, brought to you by the website

Number of the Week: 10 - When you show your child anything say "10 pieces of candy" (or whatever you are counting). Count to 10. Write the number 10 on paper. Show your child 10 things at a time and count them - "one" "two" "three" - so your child gets used to the pattern. When I have been counting to my son, he now points to things and makes sounds like he's trying to count.

Songs of the Week: Three Little Witches- This is a cute short little song that you can use to count to three. The tune is the same as "One Little, Two Little, Three Little Indians"

Story of the Week: Halloween Books Suggestions from Apples4theteacher. I'm going to repeat this the same as last week. There are SO many fun Halloween books out there, we just couldn't pick one. This website is fabulous in general, but this particular link is great because it lists the ISBN numbers so you can check on-line with your library before you go to know if the book is in or not. If you can't find these books at the library this week, you can look on on-line for your favorite book seller.

Snack of the Week: Banana Ghosts - This recipe is from the Family Fun website. They have you cover a banana with melted white chocolate and add candy eyes. You could also cover the banana with white frosting or marshmallow creme. You can use raisins (if you're comfortable your toddler can safely eat them) or a dab of black frosting for the eyes. There are also a bunch of super fun ideas at the Parenting website. Just make sure they aren't too scary or are appropriate for your child's age.

Spanish Words of the Week: la bruja = witch, el dulce = candy, and there is no equivalent to "trick or treat" in Spanish since it's not a Latin holiday. My friend Jo who's first language was Spanish says they just said "trick or treat" when they were kids. Thanks Jo!

Do It Myself: Putting on Your Costume - I know, it might not work but you could at least let them try...It depends of course on what the costume is but it's a great time to let them try a little independence. Good luck! :)

Activity of the Week: Ghost Lollipop - You will most likely have to help a bit with this one but all you need is a bag of Tootsie Roll Lollipops (how many licks does it take to get to the center?), some facial tissues or tissue paper, rubber bands and a marker - you can get fancier if you want to help your toddler glue on google eyes. Put the tissue over the lollipop and put a rubber band around the "neck". Then let your toddler draw a face on the head and if you want, you can help them tie colored ribbon (like what you use for wrapping presents) around the neck or you can use black and orange pipe cleaners from a craft store. If you make several, you could even give them out to trick or treaters on Saturday night.

Yoga Pose: Half Moon Pose- This is a great back stretch and takes a little balance but you can leave your foot on the ground to make it a little easier. PS - Our kids always liked the Yoga Kids series if you'd like more ideas for doing yoga with your toddler.

Sign Language Sign of the Week: Pumpkinand Ghost. If your toddler is still learning how to talk, sign language can be a great way for them to communicate. And as they get older, they'll pick up signs faster and it can be more of a fun thing versus a way to communicate.